(This was originally posted October, 2018 but I took it down because people gave me shit about it. Here it is anyway. If you’re upset by any of this, feel free to read this piece in which I am equally critical. I feel like it’s important to talk about this shit; there’s a whole culture right now where it feels like you’re not even allowed to talk about stuff, and I think that’s not cool).
I’m not trying to be a dick here, I’m honestly wondering: did people even read what he did? He didn't “force” anyone to do anything. He didn’t “silence” anyone or force them to leave comedy. I'm sorry, but the way the whole thing has been reported and everyone’s over the top anger has been absolutely ridiculous. People keep reporting that Louis had no consent (he did, or at least misread certain situations), and people in turn keep thinking his actions were far worse. I agree 100% that a woman should be able to go to work and not be pressured to do bullshit she doesn’t want to by some annoying domineering man, but let’s face it: Louis CK is not Mother Teresa obviously, and people are acting like he's Hitler.
I know I’ll catch shit for this but I honestly don’t think people read what happened exactly. He asked various women (that he had a previous history with: it seems like he genuinely thought they liked him in return) to do something that many people would consider disgusting, he got approval in every single case that was reported about, and then he went ahead and did it (and in the case of one accuser, he simply didn’t continue when she declined). What the fuck am I missing here? I get that he was very assertive, had an unusual request, and DEFINITELY didn’t pursue shit at the right times (at work is a big no no), but as for “forcing” people to do shit? I really don’t see how he is a Bill Cosby or a Harvey Weinstein or a fucking Matt Lauer. Not even close.
Let’s go through this shit case by case, according to the original New York Times article:
First two women: This is the Aspen incident. Louis was friendly with 2 comedians, they visited his hotel room after work one night. The women apparently thought they were just friends, but as soon as they got into the hotel room Louis asked if he could masturbate in front of them. They “laughed it off” and said nothing (in some reports they actually gave a thumbs up), and Louis continued. They stayed and watched, leaving only after he ejaculated for some reason.
Third woman: a woman called Louis for reasons not related to sex at all, he started hitting on her, he quickly took things to a sexual place, and masturbated while talking to her on the phone. She stayed on the phone for some reason.
Fourth woman: Louis again asked if he could masturbate. This time the woman used her words to communicate a clear no, and Louis didn’t continue. This one is a complete non-issue that shouldn’t have even been included in the article. It would be like if someone asked another person out on a date at work and they said no. The only reason it was reported is because Louis CK is a famous person, it’s a creepy request, and they were at work. Other than that….no “abuse” here, nothing happened really….
Fifth woman: Louis would “repeatedly” ask this person to watch him masturbate (a person that worked for him). She agreed and regretted it later. This is what is apparently called “retroactive consent withdrawal,” which is utterly absurd IMO.
That’s what happened. I think I was fair to each side of the story, and not biased. But that’s really it. The worst you can possibly say about Louis is that he was creepy, overly assertive, and should not have pursued his selfish bullshit at work. The other really shitty thing about it all is that Louis lied to everyone for years, and dodged questions about the whole thing (which I think worked against him). If someone asked him about this years ago in an interview and he were to say, “Yeah, I like to jerk off to women I like while they watch. It’s my thing,” the whole MeToo fallout would not have happened to him. But anyway, as for “abusive,” another word used in the original New York Times article…I’m not sure if he was.
When I do shit with girls I always ask first if it’s something I’m not sure they’d be down for. They either say no or yes. And we move on from there accordingly. Isn’t that standard fucking protocol most sane guys do? No guy wants to fuck a woman that isn’t enjoying herself unless he’s a fucking weirdo. So we use our words to communicate shit; it’s that simple. That’s what being a human is about: we fucking invented traffic lights because communication is a life or death situation in some cases. Louis acted like he was in traffic normally when people are reporting him like a fucking muscle car that was going at 90000000000000 miles an hour and crashing into trees and shit. IDK. He never blocked any doors and forced women to watch him (and if he did, that has not been reported yet).
I get that he’s representative of a culture that would support and allow shitty men to get away with awful things, but I don’t think he’s as evil as other men in the culture. Also…can we please stop infantilizing women and treating them like imbeciles incapable of expressing their thoughts? He put these women in a difficult situation for sure, but it’s not like he never gave any of these women a choice ultimately. Shouldn’t they know if they want to do something or not?
Jesus Christ, people have called him a sex offender when the guy ASKED for permission. I know a lot of people would argue, “Some things you just don’t ask. Especially at work.” But does that make Louis an evil guy? I don’t think so. I have never heard of a serial killer who asks permission to kill you. Truly evil and sociopathic people don’t ask people for permission to do anything…they just do whatever they want regardless of how you feel. Stop acting like he jumped out from behind a bush and jerked off at you when you were on your way to church or something. I’m also not saying this because I’m a big Louis fan, I would probably say this even if it was fucking Carrot Top or another comedian I dislike.
I’m sorry, but Louis CK is pretty much already back and it’s time to get used to it. He didn’t murder anyone. He made poor judgement calls for sure, but humans should be forgiven for dumb shit. We make poor judgment calls all the time, should we suffer the consequences for the rest of our lives? Just last week I made a mistake in traffic because I took a Benadryl before noon and was a little tired: a cop pulled me over and gave me a talking to and then let me go (and I’m a dude of colour)! I was shocked. I know what Louis did wasn’t great, but I also think he should be forgiven. I’m sorry if that offends you, that’s just how I feel. People have argued things like, “Well what if he was the janitor at a workplace somewhere and he asked your mom to jerk off in front of her and it was not a talented celebrity you like because they make you laugh?” To that I would say: obviously I’m not thrilled about that, but at the core of it did the janitor do anything wrong? I mean, he politely asked…And my mom said no, so he didn’t do it (at least I would hope my mom would say no to that, lmaoooooo). The real crime is if he continues doing shit when she says no, isn’t it? Like I said: I’m not trying to be a dick here, I’m just trying to see what others are.
By the way, speaking of my mother: she is super religious and the other day asked me, “When the fuck is Louis coming back already? He’s just gonna go away after all that shit happened?” I told her I have no idea due to all this hysteria we’re living through. And here’s an example of what I mean when I use the word “hysteria” when discussing Louis CK’s dissenters. During a recent set CK said, “They tell you that when you get in trouble, you find out who your real friends are. It’s black people, it turns out. They’ll stick by you.” This is clearly a quote from a comedy set from the mouth of a comedian. But of course, people on Twitter took a screencap of that part of the NY Times article and posted all kinds of dismissive shit like, “NOPE,” or calling him a racist, etc. It’s like they want so desperately to have something, ANYTHING to be mad about, they don’t give a shit if they know all the facts or not. I think these people should look for other avenues to express their anger that would make more sense logically. It’s like Louis once said, “People say ‘my phone sucks.’ No it doesn’t! The shittiest cellphone in the world is a miracle. Your LIFE sucks. AROUND the phone.” In other words, Louis isn’t the source of all your problems. This misplaced anger has not only manifested itself in the form of turning on Louie, but now anyone that even talks about him is grounds for getting “in trouble.” You can’t even think out loud about this shit without people jumping down your throat (and I’m guessing I’ll probably receive a lot of angry e-mails in response to this, further proving my point).
I’m also guessing that as Louie performs more stand-up we’re going to start seeing more and more of these types of angry Louis posts and comments. And I think most people have no clue what actually happened. They see that other people are upset with him, and think they should be too. I would strongly recommend going back to that New York Times article from last year, rereading it, and then making a decision. Because I have, and while I would not say “Louis did nothing wrong,” it’s honestly not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. He is definitely a creepy motherfucker, but not a malicious one.
